A Larimer County, Colorado man has been arrested on suspicion of child abuse after building an underground fallout bunker and allegedly making butane hash oil in the room, blowing it up. He, another man and a juvenile were injured.
The explosion happened June 13 near a home in the 3300 block of South County Road 1 in Timnath, according to the sheriff’s office.
Michael Lee Williams, 35, was arrested Thursday Aug. 24 on charges including felony child abuse, assault, extraction of marijuana concentrate and arson, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Williams had been digging and working on the “tornado shelter” for months.
On June 13, he took butane into the 6-by-10-foot bunker to cook hash oil. Later in the day, Williams returned with a 22-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy. Williams went to light a marijuana joint, and the spark ignited residual butane, causing an explosion and a fire.
All three were burned severely. They were hospitalized, treated and released. An arrest warrant was issued for Williams, and he surrendered to authorities at the Larimer County jail. Williams is free on $25,000 bail.
